D56 Scooby-Doo: White House Chronicles: The Beginning
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Years after the breakup of Mystery Inc. after a bitter fallout, Shaggy is now a Senator who is later appointed to the Cabinet of a newly-elected President. However, he soon found himself in the White House following an unprecedented attack during a joint session of Congress, an attack that brings back memories from the past. Please read and review!
1. Prologue and Election Year

**Author's note: All of this craze about the recent presidential election down in the States and my reading about several political dramas, like _West Wing_ , both versions of _House of Cards_ and _Designated Survivor_ , inspired me to come up with this brand-new AU Scooby series.**

 **This new series takes place in Dimension 56, numbered 56 due to the fact that the United States has 56 administrative divisions: 50 states, the District of Columbia and 5 territories, and the timeline follows that of Dimension Four.**

 **In other words, like D4, the human members of the gang are all born in 1953 and the events of the Hanna-Barbera canon of the franchise, excluding 13GSD and _Superstar 10_ Scooby films, occurs in this dimension, with 1985 being the year the timeline for this dimension diverges from that of D4s.**

 **In addition, the floating timeline utilized in D56 lasts between 1969 and 1999, as opposed to 1969 and 1991 in D4, though it still goes by the characters aging once every two years like D4s floating timeline.**

 **I don't own _Scooby-Doo_. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue and Election Year

 _March 15, 2012_

"I don't care what you said, Freddie." Shaggy can hear the anger and disgust in her voice after the police left with the handcuffed culprit of a latest haunting. "But I quit!"

"Fine by me." Fred huffed as Daphne walked away. "I don't want to see that sorry excuse of you ever again! Getting us into trouble with your antics and mess up our monster traps, I really could care less if you decided not to stay, Daphne Blake."

Those words continued to ring in the mind of Senator Dr. Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, the oldest human member of a group of mystery-solving adventurers formerly known as Mystery Inc., for all those years. Years after the bitter breakup of the gang.

It all started when they were in high school back in the 1960s when they found themselves grouped together in tackling a haunting in their old school library. A haunting that turned out to be the cover for a counterfeiting racket.

After that mystery, the group decided to stay together and solve mysteries, branding themselves as "Mystery Inc." as a result.

A year after solving their first case, they got a van that eventually came to be known as the "Mystery Machine", which they used in driving around and ended up solving mysteries in places then stopped by at after either hearing about the case or the Mystery Machine suffers a problem and ends up stranding them at where the haunting was taking place.

Like the first case, all those supernatural and paranormal hauntings they encountered were more of a cover for some illegal activity, though occasionally, the gang did encounter someone who used the ghostly disguise for noble reasons.

Later in the late 1970s, the gang decided to split up to pursue their own careers and for a while, Shaggy and his loyal dog companion, a Great Dane named Scoobert "Scooby" Doo, along with Scooby's nephew Scrappy Doo, kept the Mystery Machine and they travelled around the country and overseas, during which they encountered some more supernatural phenomenon that turned out to be real, though their friends were skeptical of their stories when the gang reunited briefly in 1984, though only Daphne believed them when they reunited in early 1983.

By that point, Shaggy was in his final year of obtaining his masters degree in his medical studies and he had gained some experience in the field while interning at various hospitals during that time.

Then came the Luna Ghost case in early 1985, where the gang had to deal with a ghost haunting a toy factory.

Well, prior to the case, Shaggy had already begin to discover signs that the gang isn't getting along well lately.

The fact that Fred takes all the credit for all the cases solved and gets all the media's attention, while it was mostly Velma that discovers the clues and deciphers their meaning to the mystery.

The fact that at times Daphne's danger-proneness, and even his own danger-proneness, gets them into trouble with the villains they've encountered, and Fred can't help but scold them about it.

The fact that he, Scooby and Scrappy at times mess up Fred's delicate traps while trying to capture the villain in question.

As usual, the gang came out on the top and solved the mystery, but Fred's claiming of credit that rightfully belonged to Velma, as well as his scolding Daphne about her danger-proneness in front of the media, was the spark that set up the fire.

Shaggy will never forget the aftermath of the case where Velma was the first to question Fred's responses during the media interview, as well as Fred reprimanding her for trying to hog all the glory.

Then, Fred reprimanded him, Scooby and Daphne for not doing much in solving the mystery and it was his colourful, crude language that was used to describe Daphne that was the last straw.

Mystery Inc. was no more after Daphne was the first to quit, followed by Velma and Scrappy.

Afterwards, Shaggy and Scooby offered their resignations and left Fred all on his own. Truth be told, he was getting fed up by the way Fred was treating the others, particularly Scrappy.

Shortly after leaving Fred behind, Shaggy decided to pay Daphne a visit, only to learn from the Blake family butler that she has joined her parents and flew out of the country.

Anyways, long story short, Shaggy eventually got his license to practice medicine, but he subsequently found himself dragged into the world of espionage, especially due to his work with rare medicine and treatments, in addition to the fact that he had an encounter with MI6 a while back, back when it was just him, Daphne and the Doos.

Oh, how he missed those days. He longed to get the group back together, but it won't be easy, since he had lost contact with Daphne, in addition to the fact that not long after the gang's breakup, Scooby got into an accident that left his legs paralysed, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and Scrappy, blaming himself for not preventing the accident, dedicated to take care of his uncle.

Without the Doos moving around with him, it was just Shaggy on his own.

Anyways, Shaggy eventually joined the CIA as medical support for a spy team under the leadership of the famed Jonathan "Jonny" Quest, who's now the Deputy Director of the CIA, in 1990. Shaggy's work in helping defusing various crisis, as well as his hard-working ethics with a strict moral code, earned him admiration and hero status, even among the enemies he had faced, some of whom had mused that they'd rather be captured by the beatnik-turned doctor.

However, being the type not used to the high stress related to the field of espionage, Shaggy resigned from the CIA in 1997 and instead focused on his medical career, which was benefited by his work in defusing various crisis concerning the country and he eventually accepted working at the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital as a medical supervisor.

His work at the hospital didn't quite last long. A few months into his new position as a medical supervisor, Shaggy was approached by the California Progressive Party, a political party that campaigned for various progressive causes he supported, for his candidacy to run to represent California in the Senate in the upcoming 1998 midterm elections.

It was after the incumbent senator representing the state, whose seat is up for election, announced his intention to step down from politics after the 1998 midterm elections.

Shaggy was reluctant to run for politics, considering the fact that he always has viewed the bureaucracy in Washington, as well as Capitol Hill, a nuthouse.

However, in light of a number of controversies involving the intelligence agency, as well as widespread public dissatisfaction on the administration and lack of action from Congress, Shaggy accepted the party's offer and ran for the Senate.

His honest campaign across the state, particularly his pledge to clean things up on Capitol Hill, lead him to win in a landslide in the election, and he became the third senator elected to the Senate from a third party in the administration of the President who recently became embroiled in a scandal and is now facing impeachment.

Taking office in January 6, 1999, one of Shaggy's first acts as senator was taking part in the President's impeachment trial and the subsequent impeachment vote weeks later, a vote that ended with the President's acquittal.

Shaggy's tenure as the junior Senator from California was marked with several positive accomplishments and sponsoring of several bills helpful to progressive causes, and his honest, strict work ethics and integrity earned him praises from his colleagues from both sides of the political spectrum.

After the 2000 election, a new President took office and, well, let's just say that Shaggy became one of the several senators that regularly clashed with the President.

He was a major critic of the Patriot Act, and he was one of the several senators that voted against authorizing military action in Iraq, even going for a filibuster to stall the proceedings of the bill that, if passed, will authorize the military action.

He was subsequently re-elected in a landslide in the 2004 election and was later assigned to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he took part in the fierce opposition of the President's pension reforms.

After the party he and a fellow Progressive senator from Michigan caucuses with in the Senate won a majority in the 2006 midterm elections, he was subsequently nominated as the chair of the committee he has been a member of since early 2005.

He was also among the group of senators that called for the President's impeachment, though those efforts fell through due to lack of the two-thirds support required to trigger the impeachment trial.

In 2008, as the country descended into financial turmoil due to the 2008 Financial crisis, in combination with growing tiresome of the established two-party system in place and a strong third party candidate with at least 22% support, who also promised to fix things in Washington as an outsider and stated that "the country requires a strong man during a time of crisis" during an interview, led to the closely-contested presidential election that ended with the third-party candidate elected in a landslide.

That third party candidate was Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor, the owner of the powerful LexCorp, a multinational corporation based in Metropolis, who is known for his disdain towards Superman.

 **(Who are the two Presidents that are mentioned here prior to the election of Lex Luthor in 2008?)**

While Shaggy did welcome Luthor's election as a way to break the two-party system, which he was a critic of, as well as the new President's efforts in ending the economic depression, he shared Superman and Batman's distrust of the new President and suspicions that Luthor was up to something sinister.

That something was proven when a kryptonite meteor at a size of Texas was discovered to be on the path of colliding with the planet and after President Luthor was discovered to have framed Superman in the murder of a Secret Service agent and was using the upcoming meteor strike to pursue a secret, sinister agenda, Shaggy became the first senator to call for his impeachment once the meteor crisis ended.

In early 2010, President Luthor became the third President to be impeached and the first to be removed from office as a result of the Senate unanimously voting in favour of impeachment. His vice president Pete Ross was subsequently elevated to the Presidency to fill out his remaining term.

 **(Which _Superman/Batman_ film events are being mentioned here?)**

Months after President Luthor's impeachment came the 2010 midterm elections, the conservative leaning party gained a majority in the House of Representatives, and Shaggy responded with the suggestion that legislating will become a major challenge with a gridlocked Congress, as the progressive caucuses maintained their majority in the Senate.

Then in early 2012, President Ross shocked the country when he announced that he will not be seeking re-election, which brings us to today as Shaggy sat in his Senate seat for a debate in the chamber.

There has been rumours that he could decide to go for the Progressive Party's nomination for President in the upcoming election, and there has been plenty of party members who has encouraged him to run for President.

However, while he did look forward to the challenges ahead in relation to the Presidency, he felt he wasn't quite ready to take up the challenge at the moment.

Shaggy patiently composed himself as he listened to a conservative-leaning Senator presenting her argument in the debate chaired by the President pro tempore.

At that moment, the Senate was debating a major healthcare reform package that then-President Luthor introduced. A package that he and his team of senators in the Health Senate Committee had examined and supported.

The Republican senator in question was arguing against some controversial changes that were indicated in the reform package, the changes in question which the House had removed upon first passage and then reintroduced when moved to the Senate.

"So Mr. President, I'll like to ask the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to fully explain the reason behind the approval of the State participation of the Medicaid Expansion Clause, which the Supreme Court could rule as unconstitutional if the law is challenged." The senator concluded after making her argument.

The President pro tempore turned to Shaggy and said, "California Senator Dr. Rogers, how will you respond to Alabama Senator Bennett's question?"

Shaggy composed himself and then stood up before beginning. "Like, Mr. President, this is how I will respond."

He then went on to present his arguments in favour of the controversial changes that were reintroduced in the chamber after the House passed the reform package bill with the changes removed, including citing his research figures and statistics.

"Therefore, in conclusion, Mr. President, that is why the Senate Committee agreed to reintroduce the Medicaid Expansion Clause in the reform package." Shaggy concluded and then took his seat as his colleagues applauded.

Hours later, Shaggy was back in his office, clearly worn out by the day's events.

As he sat in his office alone, he looked around and his eyes were drawn onto several objects.

His MD-PhD certificate, right by the side of a photo of him shaking hands with a fellow doctor who awarded him the certificate in question, a photo of his family, him and his old pal Scooby Doo and Mystery Inc. posing together in a group photo right in front of the Mystery Machine.

His father Sam had recently retired after almost forty years of law enforcement service, including ten years as the chief of police of his hometown Coolsville, California, while his mother had retired as a medical supervisor just a few weeks ago.

His younger sister Maggie, who has the nickname of "Sugie", which was given to her by Daphne, is currently a research scientist and is married with two children.

Shaggy sighed as his eyes settled on the group photo of Mystery Inc. They all looked young, cheerful and happy, and Daphne looked as beautiful as she ever was, as far as he remembered.

During their brief reunion in the early-1980s, Shaggy had resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her. He had wrote in his diary that he felt that he was under her spell and later wrote that he wished that he had the chance to say goodbye to his closest human friend outside his family.

Sighing, Shaggy turned towards the television in his office and decided to tune into the news.

His office phone rang as he was about to reach for his remote and he swiftly picked it up.

"Like, hello?" Shaggy answered.

* * *

 **What's this phone call about? All I can say is stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	2. Election Day and the Swearing-in

Chapter 2: An election campaign, the election and the swearing-in

A short while later, Shaggy stood by his long-time colleague, mentor and friend, Senator Cameron Kasem from Michigan, at the National Progressive Association headquarters, as the latter made an important announcement.

The senior Progressive senator of Lebanese descent outlined a series of arguments and the need to further the reforms former President Luthor had begun during his two years in office prior to his impeachment following the fallout from the Kryptonite Meteor Crisis.

As he listened to his colleague making his case, Shaggy knew deep down where this announcement was heading.

"Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I am running to become the next President of the United States and if elected, mark my words, I will implement those reforms." Kasem concluded, which was followed by massive cheers from the crowd of supporters and party officials.

Shaggy was among the people that were clapping their hands upon Kasem's announcement for his bid to the White House.

As Kasem waved, the reporters at the headquarters begin throwing their questions at him. Luthor's victory from four years ago has opened a trend and crossed the Rubicon in the country's politics. No longer do the two major parties hold any domination in Washington.

After the announcement, as Shaggy accompanied his friend into the building, Kasem asked, "So Shaggy, have you been considering some serious thought in entering the White House?"

Shaggy thought for a while as he looked towards the moon before shaking his head.

"Not really, Cam." Shaggy replied. "I mean, the prospect of becoming the country's head of state sounds like an interesting adventure, but I just don't think I'm up to commitment of the day-to-day demands that comes with the job at the moment."

"I'm guessing that you're currently satisfied in your current assignment in your Senate Committee, huh?" Kasem asked.

"Pretty much." Shaggy nodded as he extended a hand. "As a matter a fact, I do hope that the party unites and stands behind you in your candidacy to become President."

Kasem nodded thoughtfully before shaking Shaggy's offered hand, receiving his very first endorsement for the Presidency.

* * *

 _Summer of 2012_

The next several months were busy for Shaggy. If it wasn't his taking part in Senate debates, studies and hearings, it was his campaigning for Kasem's campaign to become President.

He also traveled to Vermont to campaign for the junior independent senator who, like him and Kasem, normally caucuses with the progressive-leaning party in the Senate and is currently up for re-election and shares a good working relationship with them.

There was no one in their party that decided to challenge Kasem's candidacy for the presidency, so he was the presumptive presidential nominee for the National Progressive Association.

Kasem subsequently revealed his running mate during the party's national convention in July in Los Angeles: New York Progressive Association Congresswoman Donna Messick, and it was in the delegation voting that subsequently officially confirmed Kasem and Messick as the party's nominees for President and Vice President respectively.

After the convention came the campaign trail and televised debates, the first to take place in September.

Due to the polls that indicate that the Kasem-Messick ticket has at least 33% support nationwide, the duo had to be included in the debates set by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The three debates during the fall were described as rather intense by Kasem. His primary opponents were a junior Illinois senator, whose running mate is a senior senator from Delaware, from the Democrats, and a former governor of Massachusetts, whose running mate is a congressman from Wisconsin, from the Republicans.

 **(Who are the primary opponents that Kasem were facing in the debates?)**

Kasem used the debates as an opportunity to introduce his plans for reforms and continue former President Luthor's work in growing the economy, in addition to strengthening environmental protection, the nation's welfare and healthcare programs and his vision of the country's foreign policy.

In all three debates, Kasem was seen to always emerge from the top as the winner and his support continued to grow.

For the first time in the country's history, you've got a major third party presidential candidate that is poised to win the election outright, which is contrasted to the close race in 2008 and Luthor's unexpected victory. Back then, many were expecting the Democrat senator from Illinois to clinch the Presidency over the Republican senator from Arizona and Luthor.

Shaggy was glad to see that Kasem having the momentum to win the White House. After all, just the year before north of the border in Canada, electors have voted a Social-Green alliance into an unexpected victory with a majority government under the leadership of an ethnic-minority Canadian.

With Kasem poised to win the White House, the country is due to have it's first ethnic minority President in its history, along with its first female Vice President.

Then came Election Day on November 6. Prior to that, Shaggy was also busy campaigning for the Progressive Association candidates running for the House and Senate in various states across the country, in addition to the party's nominees for various state offices. He knew that getting Kasem elected to the White House won't do much good if both chambers of Congress remains in the hands of the big two parties.

By the time Election Day came, Shaggy was exhausted. The only thing he could do now is hope after casting his ballot.

* * *

 _November 7, 2012_

History was made on the election the day before. Not only did Kasem win the Presidency with enough popular votes to carry the electoral votes of 29 states in the Electoral College, securing 280 out of the 538 Electoral College votes, but also the party was able to obtain all the Senate seats up for grabs, in addition to gaining more than a third of seats in the House.

It marked the first time that Congress now has a third party holding a significant number of seats, which also means that the two major parties, namely the Democrats and Republicans, no longer have domination like they used to in the past.

Starting January 3, 2013 for the 113rd Congress, the National Progressive Association will hold 35 seats in the Senate and 151 in the House of Representatives, which also leaves none of the parties in Congress with a majority, though the Progressive Association frequently caucuses with the Democrats, leaving the progressive side with a majority over the conservative-leaning Republicans in both houses of Congress.

Anyways, a few weeks after both the Illinois senator and the former Massachusetts governor conceded the election to Kasem, on an early-December evening, Shaggy was alone in his apartment as usual.

He was seated at the piano playing Chopin's Military Polonaise. It was mostly dark in the apartment and he was alone, but he didn't mind.

To him nowadays, it was just the setting he needs to relax. The dirty dishes in his kitchen were piled on the sink. As a bachelor, he had no one to look after the place for him while at work, and he frequently spent weekends cleaning his apartment.

Ever since Scooby and Scrappy decided to live in Coolsville on their own together, Shaggy has felt lonely in Washington without the companion of his long-time buddies, even though he does spend the summers back in his home city.

Anyways, as he played the piano, his mind travelled back to the time when he and Daphne played the piano together for a particular concert.

It was the performance of an early Mendelssohn Concerto for two pianos and orchestra with the concert taking place in Central Europe (In West Germany, he thinks), and the orchestra, full of amateur musicians, was conducted by an old friend named Garfield Stephenson Wu.

Garfield had since started working as an civil engineer, specializing in project management and transportation engineering. He later decided to enter politics and became the leader of a Social-Green coalition bloc.

That coalition bloc secured a majority government following last year's federal election, and his old friend is now one year into his term as Prime Minister of Canada, with his government accomplishing plenty of feats during that first year in office.

His strict work ethics and being down-to-earth and no-nonsense made his government popular and earned him respect from all sides of the political spectrum, although Shaggy doesn't envy his busy work load, particularly when it comes to cleaning up the mess left behind by the previous government. A government that was seen as too radical to the right in the standards of Canadians, even though that conservative party was, at that time, only able to secure a minority government.

Anyways, Shaggy was finishing with the piano when his phone rang.

Sighing, he got up and walked over.

"Hello?" He asked as he answered the phone.

"Evening, Shag." It was his friend President-elect Kasem. "I hope I'm not disturbing your peace and quiet."

"Like, don't worry about it, man." Shaggy replied. "How're your cabinet appointments going?"

"It's going alright." Kasem replied. "Still got a few more positions to fill, and speaking of which, I've actually have a proposition for you."

"What is it?" Shaggy asked.

"How would you like to become my Secretary for Health and Human Services?" Kasem asked.

Shaggy was stunned. He didn't expect the proposition from his friend and mentor, and he wasn't exactly sure if he will be able to handle the responsibilities associated with the cabinet post.

"What do you think, Shag?" Kasem asked again. "Will you take it?"

"Like, I was just thinking, Cam." Shaggy replied. "I mean, you really think I'm suitable to be Health Secretary?"

"Of course." Kasem said. "You're one of the best doctors in the country, and no one in Washington knows health issues the country is facing better than you."

Shaggy thought for a while before nodding. "Sure, man. I'll take it."

"Perfect." Kasem smiled.

* * *

 _January 21, 2013_

It was a cold chilly day in Washington, DC as the crowd gathered to watch the swearing-in of Cameron Kasem as the 46th President of the United States.

Prior to Inauguration Day, several of Kasem's cabinet appointments required President Ross signing a handful of Saxbe fixes, due to the fact that several of his appointments were sitting members of Congress. Shaggy was one of the appointees that required a Saxbe fix, as his current Senate term doesn't end until 2017.

In addition, all of the cabinet appointments, except for the Vice President, were required to go through Senate confirmation. Shaggy's confirmation as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services was passed unanimously through the Senate.

In the public swearing-in ceremony, the Chief Justice administers the oath while Kasem's wife held a law book.

Shaggy silently looked on as Kasem agreed to uphold the rule of law and to serve all Americans in the oath, ending it with, "May the Lord bless the United States of America."

There were cheers from the crowd as Kasem was formally sworn in as the 46th President, and among those applauding were outgoing President Pete Ross.

Eventually, it was time to get down to business in governing the country, and Shaggy, upon his swearing-in as Secretary of Health and Human Services, got down to work immediately.

Little did he realize that Kasem's term as President is about to take an unexpected turn.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	3. First year and an attack

Chapter 3: First year and the State of the Union Address

 _January 28, 2014_

The first year of the Kasem Administration has went by rather fast, and while Shaggy find himself still busy adjusting to his new role as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in Kasem's Cabinet, he was able to carry his responsibilities perfectly well.

During that first year, Kasem carried out many of his proposed reforms as promised, including strengthening pension and health care reforms.

His signature piece of agenda, though, will be electoral reform. Kasem was a major critic of the way electoral boundaries were drawn out, particularly with the fact that most states distribute that responsibility to state governments.

That arrangement allowed the party that was in power to have an advantage over the one in opposition, which in the President's view, promotes gerrymandering and constitutes electoral fraud.

Also, Kasem had taken the accusations that the Electoral College and the voting system for the House of Representatives were out of date seriously. He knew that significant electoral reform will be needed, though he also understood that reforms like this are poised to encounter significant challenges, particularly from those that favour the status quo.

One major argument in defense of the Electoral College was that it provides a balance for rural voters to counter the votes received in urban areas, particularly those in coastal regions where there's a tendency to vote for the progressive-leaning parties.

Part of Kasem's electoral reform package included the reform of the Electoral College. Currently, only two states - Maine and Nebraska - utilizes the congressional distribution method, where the state's electoral votes are distributed based on the popular vote within their congressional districts. The remaining 48 states and the District of Columbia utilizes the winner-takes-all system, while none of the 5 territories take part in the Electoral College.

Kasem believed that if all states, plus the territories and DC, utilized the congressional distribution method, then he can strengthen the Electoral College's efficiency in reflecting the popular vote received by the candidates in the election and increase voter turnout.

Under his proposed reforms, all 50 states and the District of Columbia will utilize the congressional distribution method for the Electoral College, in addition to adding 10 more electors to the College for the 5 territories, each of them represented by 2 electors, therefore increasing the number of electors in the Electoral College up to 548.

As a compromise for those in favour of the winner-take-all method, the states will get to choose whether to distribute the electoral votes based on the popular vote in each of the state's congressional districts, as used in Maine and Nebraska, or distribute the electoral votes based on how many congressional districts in the state the candidate has won the popular vote, as proposed in Virginia.

It took Kasem a couple of months to negotiate with the state governors, but in the end, even the most conservative governor agreed to pass corresponding legislation in their state legislature to implement the reforms, partly thanks to Shaggy's powers of persuasion.

Shaggy also took part in convincing the state governors to consider implementing independent, non-partisan electoral commissions that will take charge in drawing the electoral boundaries to eliminate gerrymandering, another part of President Kasem's electoral reform package.

That one was more challenging, but in the end, the governors agreed to go with the reforms, providing that the majority of the electorate in their state agreed to the reforms in a referendum with more than 50% voter turnout.

In addition, Kasem's electoral reform package included the utilization of instant-runoff voting for the electorate to elect their preferred Presidential ticket and Congress representatives by congressional district to replace the existing first-past-the-post system.

For the voting method, the electorate will be allowed to rank the candidates based on preference, and if the candidate in the elector's first choice is eliminated in the first round of voting, then his/her second choice candidate will receive that elector's vote, and so on. It is a voting method also in use in Australia's House of Representatives, and currently introduced north of the border in Canada for its House of Commons.

To top everything off in the package is to seriously reform the Commission on Presidential Debates, which includes measures that will end the commission's connections to the two major parties and turn it into a true, independent and nonpartisan commission, in addition to dropping the minimum 15% support limit rule that critics decried as excluding major third party candidates.

While the establishment from the two major parties weren't fans of the reforms, other third parties welcomed to proposals as a way to put an end to the two-party system and giving voters more choice in elections.

Another significant legislation Kasem is working on is giving the District of Columbia representation in Congress. Currently, the federal district, like the five territories, aren't represented in the Senate, but unlike the territories, residents residing in DC still pays federal income tax and has no representation in Congress.

The legislation is basically a resurrected version of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, an constitutional amendment that was first proposed in Congress back in 1978 but was only ratified by 16 states before its expiration in 1985, 22 states short of the minimum number required in order for the amendment to take affect.

Unlike the proposed amendment, Kasem decided to instead make another compromise.

In his legislation, DC will be granted one voting delegate in the House of Representatives, but it will only be represented by 1 senator in the Senate, thereby also resulting in DC now only having two Electors in the Electoral College (And the College's numbers reduced to 547) and keeping the Twenty-Third Amendment, which stipulated that DC can't have more representatives than the least populous state.

President Kasem hoped that his proposed legislations will make their way through Congress easily, though he is also prepared with the possibility of them getting challenged in the Supreme Court.

It was a busy first year for President Kasem and his administration, not to mention that they were also working on their proposed social, economic, health care and education reforms.

On the foreign policy side, Kasem took a more cautious approach when it comes to dealing with Russia, China and Iran.

He had a rocky relationship with the conservative German Chancellor, particularly when it came to dealing with the mass protests in Ukraine late in the year before.

It started after the country's pro-Russian President halted negotiations on a deal that will see Ukraine becoming closer to the European Union, instead embracing the country's ties with Moscow.

That move provoked angry response from the mainly pro-Western masses in the Western part of the country, who responded by staging massive protests, initially small in the capital but then spread across the country. Protests that resulted in heavy and brutal police crackdown.

Most Western European leaders, including the German Chancellor in question, called for the Ukrainian President to resign and for new elections.

President Kasem and Canadian Prime Minister Garfield Wu took different approaches, instead travelling first to Russia and then to Ukraine to arrange the negotiations.

Garfield has, in fact, resisted pressure from Ukrainian-Canadians and the opposition Conservatives calling on him to support the opposition and take a firm stand against Russia. He was quoted as saying, "It's not up to us to be the police of the world."

The two North American leaders took part in the negotiations, and it in part was thanks to Garfield's reputation as the one who always produces results, in addition to him having respect from both sides in the conflict, that enabled them to defuse the crisis and came up with a deal that was considered to be a win-win situation for the parties involved.

Anyways, that day was scheduled to be the day President Kasem delivers his second State of the Union Address in a joint session of Congress.

Prior to the address, the cabinet held a quick meeting to discuss the designated survivor.

In that meeting, it was Secretary of State Gordon Owens that suggested that Shaggy be the designated survivor.

"What do you think, Shag?" The President asked as everyone turned to Shaggy.

Shaggy looked at his cabinet colleagues before shrugging. "Like, sure. Why not? How hard can that be?"

Little did he realize that that was the last time he will be meeting with his cabinet colleagues.

* * *

A short while later, at a secure, undisclosed location miles away from the White House, Shaggy was reading a cabinet report as he awaits the State of the Union address from President Kasem on the news.

He looked on silently as Vice President Messick took her seat for the President of the Senate, right beside the Speaker of the House, fellow Progressive Robert-John "Bob" Ward, and then President Kasem took his seat in front of the two presiding officers of Congress, preparing to make his speech.

As the President began his speech, Shaggy decided to go use the washroom to relieve himself.

However, while he was gone, the power in the Capitol Building was cut and everything on the television streaming the event went black.

With the washrooms fan on, Shaggy wasn't able to hear his Secret Service escorts yelling into the radios or any communication devices.

Eventually, he emerged from the washroom ten minutes later and when he returned to the living room, he was puzzled to see that the television screen was pitch black.

"Don, what the devil is going on?" He asked one of his Secret Service agents in the room, nodding at the screen. "Did someone turned off the television?"

The agent in question didn't reply as he was busy listening into his communicator, a serious frown forming on his face.

"Don?" Shaggy repeated before turning to the agents and noticed the frown on their faces.

At that moment, the screen was back on, but when it went back on showing the chamber, Shaggy almost threw up when he saw what was on the screen.

There were dozens of what appeared to be bodies, horribly scarred and disfigured as if a wild animal or even monster had mowed its way through the legislative chamber.

"Mr. President." The head agent finally spoke, surprising the secretary. "There has been an attack on Capitol Hill."

"Like, I'm not the president, Don." Shaggy said. "It's Secretary Rogers and...oh wait."

He turned back to the television and thought that he could recognize one of the disfigured bodies, the body in question surrounded by heavily armed agents.

His eyes widened as the reality sunk in, "Oh zoinks! Please don't tell me."

"Members of the Secret Service just identified the President's body, sir." The agent explained. "From what we know so far, it was badly slashed and we've just received reports that they've identified the other bodies as that of other members of Cabinet and high-ranking figures in Congress."

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as the news sank in. "This can't be happening!"

"Everyone ahead of you in the line of succession and other members of Cabinet have been killed in the attack, sir." The head agent said. "As the designated survivor and the only one in the line of succession still alive, you're now the President of the United States of America."

Shaggy was silent as he digested the news before turning back to the television screen. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke, "Do you have any idea what the devil just happened on Capitol Hill?"

"We're still trying to get as much information as possible, sir." Another agent replied. "But from what we've learned so far, security on Capitol Hill was breached and we've gotten reports of wolf-like creatures entering the building."

"Wolf-like creatures?" Shaggy paused. "Like werewolves? That's impossible!"

"The Bureau has been contacted, sir." The agent continued. "The Director has arrived at the scene and is personally leading the investigation as we speak."

Shaggy nodded before saying, "Like, should I be present at the scene?"

"Not just yet, sir." The agent said as another pulled out a thick medical book and a law book. "We need to do something important first."

Standing up, Shaggy nodded as the agent held out the two books, stacked on top one another, and he placed his left hand on the two books while raising his right.

"Under the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, you are now President of the United States of America, Norville Rogers." The agent said. "And under the provisions of Article II, Section One and Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, we must swear you in as the new President, sir."

Shaggy nodded again as the head agent administers the oath.

"Do you, Norville Rogers, swear to faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States and uphold the principles of the Constitution of the United States?" The head agent asked with his right hand up.

"Yes." Shaggy nodded with his right hand up and left hand touching the books. "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

After the oath, Shaggy turned towards the screen as he realized that he got a big challenge ahead of him.

The challenge of leading a country through a time of crisis and into uncertain times.

* * *

 **Uh oh. Looks like Shaggy found himself with a major challenge ahead of him.**

 **What will happen next? What will be President Norville "Shaggy" Rogers' first act in his order of business?**

 **All I can say is stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	4. Response from Canada and the tattoo

Chapter 4: Response from Canada and the tattoo

 _January 29, 2014_

The whole country and the world were completely shocked by the news of the unprecedented attack on Capitol Hill the night before, as well as learning about President Kasem's untimely demise, along with members of his Cabinet and a vast majority of Congress.

The total casualties in the attack were 543. All members of the Cabinet present in the Capitol were killed, along with 89 senators and 332 representatives and several security officers and agents who had responded to the attack. Among those congressmen killed in the attack were the House Speaker and the President pro tempore, effectively leaving Shaggy as the sole high-ranking official still alive, along with 11 senators and 103 House representatives.

After being confirmed as the 47th President of the United States, Shaggy spent the night at the Capitol with FBI Director Diana "Dee Dee" Skyes, who's the first female and first African American FBI Director, as they try to investigate the attack.

The area was practically in lock-down, surrounded by armed guards and agents. There was not a single room or hallway in Capitol Hill that was empty, and it was common to see a small squad of at least five heavily armed agents and guards patrolling the building.

Shaggy also spent the night receiving calls of condolences from international leaders.

His first call was from the Prime Minister of Canada, his old friend Garfield Wu. He promised Shaggy that Canada will always stand by its southern neighbour in a time of crisis, and he also mentioned his initial reaction when he learned about the attack.

FLASHBACK - The night before

That night, the Canadian prime minister was hosting a dinner party with the other party leaders.

The leaders in attendance were Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party Anita Chudary, Leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Liberal Party Juliana Trudeau, New Democratic Party leader Thomas Daly, Conservative Party leader Martin Chong and leader of the Bloc Quebecois François Hanna. Garfield himself is attending in his capacity as the leader of the Green Party.

Currently, out of the 306 seats in the House of Commons, his coalition government consisting of Greens and Social Democrats occupies 193 seats, 99 of which went to the Greens and 94 to the Social Democrats.

In third place were the Liberal Party, who occupied 52 seats, followed closely by the NDP with 46 seats.

The Conservatives and the Bloc finished fifth and last place respectively, occupying 10 and 5 seats respectively, both of which are lower than the 12 seats required for Official Party status. In spite of that, Garfield still found the need to invite them over to his residence for the dinner for the discussion.

The topics of discussion were mainly about the government's electoral reform package, which has been successfully implemented following negotiations from all sides and with all provincial premiers just last month, in addition to the environmental and social reforms.

Anyways, Garfield's electoral reform package was somewhat similar to the late President Kasem's electoral reform package, only with a few differences.

First, Canada doesn't have an Electoral College, nor does it utilizes the US's presidential system of government. As a member of the British Commonwealth, Canada's government is a parliamentary system, where the head of state is merely a ceremonial figurehead with little to no executive powers. Real powers are vested on the Prime Minister and cabinet.

The prime minister is typically the leader of a party that holds the most seats in Parliament, and there are no fixed term lengths, since the lack of separation between the legislative and executive branches of government in a parliamentary system means that the government can only stay in power as long as it is able to maintain the confidence of Parliament, mainly the House of Commons.

Like the House of Representatives of the US, Canada's House of Commons utilizes the first-past-the-post voting system, which can produce false majorities in a multi-party system like Canada's and is a major issue, since there has been times where the governing party obtained less than half the total vote and yet wind up with a majority government, taking more than half the seats of the House of Commons.

Garfield knew that changes to the voting system is long due, and he knew it is time for him to act.

The first piece of legislation in his electoral reform package was the change in the voting method for the House of Commons. Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, synonymous with Representatives in the House of Representatives, will now be voted through instant runoff voting method, just like the system in use in Australia's House of Representatives.

Second, members of the Senate of Canada are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister instead of being elected like in the US Senate, and recent scandals in the red chamber has ignited debate on Senate reform.

There were also calls for fairer representation for the provinces in the red chamber, since larger provinces like Ontario and Quebec still hold the most seats, which are disadvantageous for smaller provinces like Prince Edward Island for regional checks and balances.

After a series of negotiations with other party leaders, provincial and territorial premiers and Indigenous leaders, the government incorporated a second piece of legislation in the package.

Under the second legislation, the seating distribution for the Senate will be changed. There will now be 120 senators in the red chamber, all elected through a system of mixed-member proportional representation.

The first 71 senators will be elected through single transferable vote by province, territory and the District of Carleton, of which Ottawa, the capital of Canada is located in. Each province will now be represented by six senators, regardless of the population, the three territories represented by three senators and the District of Carleton represented by two senators.

Then, the next 39 senators are elected through open-party list proportional representation with a minimum threshold of 5 percent on a nationwide basis, also with the ranking option.

Finally, the remaining ten senators are elected by First Nations and Northern communities through single non-transferable vote.

In addition, the package included legislation that effectively bars Big Money out of politics with a very low cap on third party donations from corporations, unions and interest groups.

During his two years in office, Garfield's government also introduced several reforms on health care, social welfare and environmental protection, in addition to reforms that allowed further development in First Nations and northern communities and increased employment, which effectively placed the country out of recession.

Anyways, the main topic for the dinner discussion was on tackling the country's labour crisis. It has gotten to a point where the country doesn't have enough labour for the increasing number of jobs with a very low unemployment rate, even when you have skilled immigrants entering the country.

The dinner party also coincided with United States President Cameron Kasem's second State of the Union Address, and the party leaders are also to watch the address while having dinner.

The screen live broadcasting the address on Capitol Hill unexpected went pitch black during the dinner, and the party leaders were surprised by the sudden change.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" (What is this?) The Bloc leader asked in French.

"What's going on with the live feed?" Daly asked when the screen went pitch black. "Did someone touched the remote?"

"The remote is still on the screen." Chong replied. "Maybe someone touched the cables and it got loose while adjusting the screen."

Before the prime minister could say something, his cell phone started to ring and he got up.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." He said when he saw the caller ID, his Taiwanese accent evident in his voice. It was that of his parliamentary assistant. "I'm going to need to take this call."

The other party leaders nodded before the prime minister took the call.

Some of them were finishing what was remaining of their dinner while others were watching the prime minister speaking on the phone.

Trudeau's eyebrows raised when she saw the frown forming on the prime minister's face, and Chudary can see his eyes darkening.

"My word!" The prime minister can be heard exclaiming, and the party leaders can tell that something is up.

As if aware that the deputy prime minister was observing him, Garfield turned to her and nodded, reckoning her to come over.

The remaining party leaders looked at each other in confusion as they watched the prime minister covering the speaker of his phone while conferring with the deputy prime minister.

Chudary nodded, and the leaders can hear her say, "I'll call Hector immediately."

The Hector that was mentioned is Foreign Minister Hector Díaz, who's a Canadian of Hispanic descent and is known for his sympathy towards Palestine, in addition to maintaining good relations with Russia. Prior to becoming foreign minister, he served as Canada's ambassador to Venezuela and a few other Latin American countries.

Anyways, after the prime minister hung up the phone, he returned to the table and the party leaders can see the disturbed look on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Garfield said after a long minute of silence. "I was just informed by my parliamentary secretary about terrible news. There has been an attack on Capitol Hill."

You can hear a pin drop when the prime minister broke the news as the party leaders reacted with shock.

"An attack during the day of the State of the Union address?" Chong asked. "Is that some sort of..."

"The Secret Service has just discovered President Cameron Kasem's body." Garfield cut in sharply, the tone in his voice making it clear that it was no joke. "Along with those of high-ranking Cabinet officials in attendance, including the Vice President. And we're getting reports of high casualties from the attack, given that it was a joint session of Congress for the State of the Union Address."

The silence didn't last long as Daly dropped the knife he was holding while cutting his piece of turkey, apparently in shock.

"Wh...what happened?" The Bloc leader asked in English, the first sentence of English spoken by him for the evening.

"The staff aren't exactly sure." Garfield shook his head. "There has been reports that security of the Capitol has been breached and that there are loads of wolf-like figures on the Capitol's grounds."

"Wolf-like creatures?" Trudeau repeated. "Like werewolves?"

"Was that some sort of a joke?" Chong asked.

Garfield turned to the leader of the Conservative Party and asked with a frown, "I personally was not sure if I should believe what was reported, but do you honestly think that I will report such a thing to you ladies and gentlemen if it's not true or confirmed at all?"

The leaders all looked at the prime minister and shook their heads simultaneously. None of them questioned Garfield's statement, owing to his strict, no-nonsense personality, along with his reputation as being a man true to his word.

Without further interruption, the prime minister continued, "Deputy Prime Minister Chudary is speaking to Foreign Minister Hector Díaz about the attack. He has ordered diplomatic staff at the Canadian Embassy in Washington to be placed on alert as we speak. They're all accounted for at the moment."

END OF FLASHBACK

Anyways, Shaggy had a restless night after spending hours at Capitol Hill with the investigators, adding to the fact that he had Secret Service Agents on guard at his apartment, presumably to safeguard the 47th President from any future attacks.

He spent the morning meeting with the families of his deceased cabinet colleagues, include that of late former President Kasem's and offered his condolences.

Shaggy was offered to move into the White House, but he elected to do so after the state funeral, and besides, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment as the new President.

He has to finish what his predecessor had started, not to mention that he will need to appoint a new Cabinet and reconstitute Congress, on top of investigating the attack on Capitol Hill the night before.

Shaggy sighed as his advisers entered his office to brief him.

The first topic on their agenda for discussion is to discuss his planned speech, a speech that he had wrote when he was having trouble sleeping the night before and will deliver to ensure the country that the government will remain in operation in spite of the recent events.

In the room were the new White House Chief of Staff Professor Pericles, his Special Adviser Irving Takamoto and White House Press Secretary Cindy North.

At first glance, the new White House Chief of Staff's name appears to be that of a professor from a university. However, as a matter a fact, Professor Pericles is actually a parrot who has a brain the size of a cashew, but nonetheless is very intelligent, hence the use of the word "Professor" in his name.

The parrot was given to Shaggy as a gift from an old friend, that old friend being Richard "Ricky" Owens, the older brother of the late Secretary of State Gordon Owens, after he was first elected as a senator.

In spite of the parrot's thick German accent, Shaggy bonded with him and has consulted him on a number of issues. He continued to have him as an adviser when he was appointed as Health Secretary and the parrot now found himself as his chief of staff following his unexpected ascension to the White House.

"You sure you wanted to proceed with the speech, Mr. President?" North asked after reading through the draft of the speech.

"Yes." Shaggy nodded. "We need to let the whole country know and reassure them that the government will continue on business as usual, in spite of last night's attacks, not to mention that we still got some unfinished business to take care of."

"Right." Takamoto nodded. "Now, before we get on with the speech, what do you suppose we should do first after the speech?"

"I'm going to meet with the surviving members of Congress first, where they will first elect an interim Speaker of the House and President pro tempro of the Senate." Shaggy replied. "After that, I'll discuss the electoral reform package with them and have them vote on whether to hold special elections to reconstitute Congress in the next month, even though the mid-term elections are to be held later this year."

"Shouldn't you appoint a new Cabinet first, Mr. President?" North asked.

"Vell, the Founding Fathers have originally intended for the legislative branch, namely Congress, to be the dominant branch of the government." Pericles replied.

"Yes, and besides, all of my Cabinet appointments requires the consent of the Senate." Shaggy added. "Now, how am I supposed to get things done if only less than a half - in fact, barely over a tenth - of the Senate have survived the attack?"

"Right." North nodded understandingly. "Then, after the meeting, what's next on your agenda, Mr. President?"

"I will like to get to the bottom of last night's attack." Shaggy said with a tone of authority in his voice. "My predecessor never intended to follow through with the charge-in-with-both-arms-swinging approach when it comes to passing laws, not to mention that he was democratically elected by the people of this country and was at the top of his game with high approval ratings. Yet, this attack happened and he was killed."

"Well, that will mean that you'll be in touch with Director Skyes for the next while everyday, sir." Takamoto nodded.

* * *

A short while later, the majority of the country were glued to their television, tablet, smart phone and computer screens as Shaggy made a televised speech from his office.

The speech was short and brief, but Shaggy reassured the country that he'll do the best in carrying on with the operations of the government.

He also outlined his next acts, including his proposal to move Election Day to the third Saturday of March to eliminate the need to hold two congressional elections in the same calendar year and his scheduled upcoming meeting with what was left of Congress following the attack the night before.

Several minutes later after the speech, the President found himself seated in the conference room with the remaining 11 senators and 103 House representatives, along with his chief of staff.

Out of the 11 senators, there were the two independents that normally caucuses with the Progressives and Democrats, along with 3 Democrats, 2 Progressives and 4 Republicans. One of those Republican senators present is one of the most conservative senators in the country with the initials "JS" and is from Alabama.

Shaggy didn't exactly get along with Senator S. well during his tenure as senator before becoming health secretary. The Alabama senator accused him of being a hypocrite when Shaggy did a filibuster to stop the bill that would authorize military action in Iraq back in 2003, remarking that "I have no d*mn idea what that hypocrite doing the filibuster stands for, but one thing for sure is that he doesn't represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world."

Shaggy exploded at the comment and fired back by referring to the Alabama senator as a "bloodthirsty maniac" and a "would-be war criminal" and that he, along with the then-President, are going to have blood on their hands if they proceed with military action in Iraq.

 _How true did his statement back then turned out_ , Shaggy thought to himself as he faced the Alabama senator in the conference room. _Look at Iraq right now. Look at the Middle East right now. All of this mess could've been avoided had we not meddle around._

 **(Who is this Alabama senator in question?)**

Shaggy was relieved to see his other old friend - the junior independent senator from Vermont - also in the meeting. He was offered a Cabinet position by Kasem but politely declined and is an idol of Shaggy's in politics.

Anyways, for the House representatives in attendance, there were 20 Progressives, 49 Democrats and 34 Republicans.

All of them had somber looks on their faces as they turned to face the new President, who is chairing the conference.

"It's a shame that we're taking part in a meeting like this right now instead of going through business as usual." Shaggy began after they observed a moment of silence. Then, he looked at everyone in attendance before continuing, "As you all may be aware, the administration has got a lot on its plate at the moment, first being the need to reconstitute Congress, then the appointment of a new Cabinet, finishing former President Kasem's work and getting to the bottom of last night's attack."

Everyone nodded, not saying a word.

"Now, I am aware that in order to have a properly-functioning government, I will need to appoint a new Cabinet first." Shaggy continued. "Except that all my cabinet appointments will require the consent and approval from the Senate, which at present is down to barely-over a tenth of its normal size."

The senators all nodded again.

"Which brings us to today's discussion." Shaggy said. "I intend to hold special elections to reconstitute Congress within the next two months. Trouble is, this year is also an election year with the midterm elections scheduled for this November, and with more than half of Congress vacant at the moment, there's debate on whether to move Election Day to this spring, namely to be held on the third Saturday of February, so we can reconstitute Congress all at once, or proceed with the special elections this February and then hold the midterm elections as usual in November, or as an interim measure allow the state governors to appoint the vacant spots and hold the midterm elections as usual."

* * *

After the meeting, Shaggy received a message from Skyes through his chief of staff about an update to the investigation of last night's attack. Without further delay, he made his way to Skyes' office at the J. Edgar Hoover Building.

The headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been in poor condition with plenty of its building systems nearing the end of their life-cycles, and one of Kasem's promises was to accelerate the site selection process for the bureau's new headquarters.

As Shaggy entered the building, escorted by his security detail, he looked up towards the late-afternoon sky.

He was no engineer, but he knew that it is best that he carry on with Kasem's work to accelerate the site selection process with the state of the current building.

Soon, he was in the director's office, accompanied by his security detail, a trio of agents and the director. Her face looked like stone as she gestured towards the presentation screen.

"This footage is taken from a security camera on the Hill, Mr. President." Skyes said as she gestured towards the screen. "Three minutes before the attack."

Shaggy blinked as he watched the footage. You can see a man going through some sort of a transformation process as he entered the building.

"Like, you got to be kidding me." Shaggy said as he noticed a small bushy tail growing out from the man.

"That's not the end of it, sir." Skyes said as they witnessed the man transforming into a wolf. "I'm going to pause the footage here and zoom in on the shoulder of the half-man-half-wolf."

Shaggy nodded as the agents did what Skyes said, and they soon found themselves staring at what appeared to be a tattoo on the shoulder.

Somewhere deep down, Shaggy begin to have a weird feeling as the sight of the tattoo invoked several memories from his past.

A feeling that the attack on Capitol Hill has connections to his past.

His past as a member of the amateur sleuth group known as Mystery Incorporated.

* * *

 **What is this tattoo about? All I can say is stay tuned, and please read and review!**


End file.
